This invention relates generally to interfaces typically associated with network computer program applications and more particularly to providing an internet or intranet based monitoring and management system for storage systems using a so called web browser interface.
Older interfaces associated with application programs generally followed the so called "navigation by menu" model where a menu typically includes a list of selectable commands or objects which are of interest to the user. An object of one menu list may actually be another menu with an associated list of objects (or commands). In the "navigation by menu" model, menus are arranged in a command-oriented tree. As such, the user is forced to navigate through a branching hierarchy of menus until the desired menu or object is found. An undesirable result of the above described model is the loss of context between menus. After navigating through several menus to reach a desired object, the user may not be able to determine from the on screen display, the effects of selecting the found object. Thus the user is forced to remember the context of the menus navigated through to ensure a desired result.
Newer graphical interfaces may employ a so called object-centric model. In the object-centric model, the user interface includes objects, i.e. graphical representations of objects. Associated with each object is a context in which a user may find the means (e.g. commands, etc.) to complete an intended operation. Also, within a particular context, a user may be presented with additional objects. Even with such an arrangement, some prior art interfaces with an object-centric look, will merely mimic the behavior of a character terminal interface. Better object-centric interfaces may allow execution of a given command on several objects, but still require the user to traverse a menu hierarchy to execute different commands on the chosen object(s).
As is known in the art, one type of interface by which a user may access information over the internet or an intranet is a so called web browser. A web browser typically provides a graphical interface and allows a user to navigate or "browse" the internet using a hypertext information and communication system (i.e. the world wide web). One such well known browser is the Netscape browser developed by Netscape Communications Corporation. Thus, any computer with a network connection to the internet may potentially be accessed by a user with a computer also connected to the internet and running a web browser.
One of the shortcomings of many web based applications is the loss of context while navigating through various paths of information as described above. This is a result of the interface design which requires the user to "link" or "jump of" to different pages of information in order to navigate and access various information. The link process is typically performed by the user activating, with a mouse or other interface device, a defined hot spot on the web page (which is displayed on the interface). As is generally the case, linking to a new page causes the loss of most, if not all, of the information on the page linked from. Thus, there can be a loss of context for the user which may create confusion since the user is required to remember all the information in the previous pages which the user traversed to reach the current point.
As is also known in the art computer systems generally include a central processing unit, a memory subsystem, and a storage subsystem. According to a networked or enterprise model of a computer system the storage subsystem associated with or in addition to a local computer system may include a large number of independent storage devices or disks housed in a single enclosure. This array of storage devices is typically connected to several computers over a network. Such a model allows for the centralization of data which is to be shared among many users and also allows a single point of maintenance for the storage functions associated with computer systems.
It is desirable for users (e.g. MIS professionals) of the above described storage systems to be able to configure and monitor the storage devices and data movement controllers associated with the storage system. Previously, such management was achieved using a command line interface from a host computer attached to the storage system. With such a method, the manager would be able to inquire about the status of various aspects of the storage system and make configurations changes using specialized commands typed in at the managers console or terminal.
Recently, graphical user interfaces have been developed to ease the tasks of monitoring and configuring storage systems. These graphical user interfaces are essentially another layer of programming which replaces the command line interface and thus still require that a management program be run on at least one of the host systems attached to the storage system and thereby require that the system manager log onto or be physically located at a particular host computer or terminal.
It would be advantageous to provide a network storage management solution which allowed a system manger to remotely monitor and configure a storage system via the internet or an intranet. It would further be advantageous to provide a storage management solution which allows the use of commercially available web browsers to perform the management tasks without the navigation typically associated with browsers. Since browsers operate on (i.e. interpret) web pages in order to provide the user with an interface to the information on the internet, the interface is limited by the functionality provided by the hyper text markup language (HTML) used to create the web pages. Since HTML is not a programming language (e.g. like "C" or "C++") providing a web based storage management system with all the same features as a traditional storage management application, has, prior to the present invention, not been accomplished.